Investigations

The Investigations Section of the Fluvanna County Sheriff’s Office is part of the Field Operations Division. It is comprised of four general investigators, one of whom is appointed the rank of lieutenant and supervises the section. These positions are filled through a competitive promotional process that takes into account the appointee’s time in law enforcement service, knowledge, skills, training, and previous work quality.

Investigators are generally expected to be on duty each weekday, but variations occur frequently to fulfill the needs of the agency. They are expected to function in any capacity required of a sworn sheriff’s deputy, like taking reports, conducting select patrols, making and processing arrests, and serving criminal and civil process. While they are not always the primary responding deputy, they generally become responsible for short and long term investigations of all major crimes within the county including Felony Assault, Homicide, Rape, Sexual Assault, Kidnapping, Child Abuse, Elder Abuse, Robbery, Burglary, Larceny, Embezzlement, Fraud, Narcotics, Hate Crimes, Arson, Missing Persons, and various Internet and Computer crimes. Investigators rotate through an on-call schedule in order to stand always ready to assist other deputies and other agencies with technical advice or assistance in any case.

Investigators must be capable of completing detailed tasks including identifying and preserving physical and digital evidence, interviewing victims, witnesses and offenders and documenting their statements, surveilling individuals and locations for illegal activity, preparing and executing search warrants, and presenting evidence to the Commonwealth’s Attorney, the Fluvanna County Grand Jury, and state and federal courts during the prosecution of offenders. In order to accomplish this, investigators receive many forms of specialized training in addition to the biennial training required for their Commonwealth of Virginia Law Enforcement Officer Certification.  Some of those trainings include basic and advanced crime scene training, ChildFirst Forensic Interviewing, the Reid School of Interview and Interrogation, the Virginia Forensic Science Academy, the Virginia Fire Marshal Academy, the Professional Leadership Academy, narcotics investigations courses, crisis intervention training, child and elder abuse training, and computer and mobile device forensic examination courses.  

The Investigations Section maintains a close working relationship with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies and various community service agencies and non-profits. These include all other sections within the sheriff’s office, Fluvanna County Administration, the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, Victim Witness Coordination, the Department of Social Services, local public and private schools, Foothills Child Advocacy Center, Region 10, the Shelter for Help in Emergency, the Sexual Assault Resource Agency, and numerous others. Investigators also participate in various task forces and information sharing groups such as the Southern Virginia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the Metro Richmond Fraud Task Force, the Fluvanna County Multi-Disciplinary Team, the Fluvanna County Sexual Assault Response Team and others.

The Investigations Section draws a strong sense of pride from its work and the citizen interactions it has. Each investigator makes it a personal mission to protect victims and properly gather all possible evidence to exonerate the innocent and bring offenders to justice. It is in this way that they proudly support the mission of the Fluvanna County Sheriff’s Office and serve the Citizens of Fluvanna County.

.